Harry Potter and the Duel Spirits
by dark dhampir
Summary: Harry's cousin has no interest in weak monsters. One day, Harry saves some and begins an all new journey. Rated T, for safety. Will include romance, but they will start out as friendships. Will also be very odd.
1. Chapter 1: Love at First Sight

**Disclaimer: I do not own either the _Harry Potter _franchise nor the _Yu-Gi-Oh _one. If I did, a crossover would already be cannon, and the magical background of the two stories would be much more cohesive.**

* * *

**Harry and the Duel Spirits**

Harry Potter did not like birthday parties. Unlike most children, his was never celebrated. In fact, it wasn't even acknowledged by his own family, and, unfortunately, that wasn't the worst of it. No, the worst of it was that he was forced to "help out" with his cousin, Dudley's birthday parties, which meant doing most of the set-up, serving cake and ice cream like a waiter, and cleaning up afterwards while Dudley and his guests went to do something more entertaining. But what neither Harry nor his relatives would have ever guessed was that this last chore would actually change his life for the better.

Dudley Dursely had a fair number of hobbies: eating, watching T.V., causing trouble, beating up Harry, but the one he was most proud of was dueling. Not with weapons, mind you, but with cards. Dudley was a local champion in the game of Duel Monsters; he'd competed in two tournaments already and had done well both times (Ninth place in the first, and Fifth in the second). Of course, Dudley felt he should have taken first in both because of his—supposedly—great skills and his deck full of rare and unbeatable cards. Truthfully, he had only done as well as he had more because of his deck than his skills; his parents bought him the cards most duelists would trade or scrounge through dozens of card packs for.

Still, Dudley considered himself a great duelist.

When Dudley's Aunt Marge had learned this, she had sent him a "very special present:" a complete collection of the six "Charmer" monsters. Harry had been handing out plates of cake, so he got to look over his cousin's shoulder and see them. The monsters took the form of attractive young women with their monster allies. At least, Harry assumed they did.

"They're so WEAK!" Dudley had cried, before throwing the cards his aunt had likely spent quite a lot of money on into the trash. Dudley had sulked and whined about the failed present for about five minutes before his mother had offered a new present to him. This one contained a pair of boxing gloves, which cheered him up immensely. Harry "looked forward" to helping Dudley enjoy _that _present.

After the presents, Vernon took Dudley and his friends out to the movies, while Petunia stayed behind to make sure Harry didn't break anything while he cleaned up. That was how Harry found himself walking around the living room with a garbage bag, picking up plates and forks and bits of wrapping paper. Harry's journey around the room eventually brought him to the waste basket . . . the same one Dudley had thrown his cards into . . .

Harry looked back. Aunt Petunia was still busy in the kitchen. For a single moment, Harry debated; then acting fast, he lifted the lid off the bin and saw them: six Duel Monster cards. Harry reached his hand in and grabbed two from the trash. He tried to stuff them into his pockets, but although the waist of Harry's jeans was big enough (it was Dudley's hand-me-down), the pockets were still too small. Thinking quickly, Harry opted to stuff them down his shirt instead. Looking again, he saw Petunia was still busy, so he grabbed two more cards and stuffed them in, too. He tried to complete the action a third time, but only managed to grab one card. Biting his lip, Harry thrust his hand back into the dumpster, but the card got stuck on the bag inside.

_Come on, _Harry "said" in his mind. _Come on. You don't __want to be thrown away, do you? I promise, I'll take care of you. I'll never throw you away. I'll—_

Harry pulled the card loose. He smiled at it; it had a picture of a green-haired girl with a tiny, legless dragon. _Wynn the Wind Charmer, _it read.

"What's going on in there?" Petunia's voice rang out.

"Nothing, Aunt Petunia," Harry shouted back. Hearing her footsteps approaching, the boy grabbed the lid of the dumpster and put it back. He made it, but he was still holding the card. He couldn't fit it in his shirt in time—

"What are you doing?" Petunia asked as she came in the room.

"Just resting, Aunt Petunia," Harry said, reaching down and grabbing his trash bag, before continuing to put more garbage into it.

"You can rest tonight!" Petunia snapped. "That's why we give you a room and a bed. Get back to work, and don't let me catch you slacking off again."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry replied. Satisfied, his aunt turned and went back to preparing Dudley's special Birthday Dinner. When she was gone, Harry put the bag back down, and pulled the card he had worked so hard for out of his the extra-large sleeves of his shirt and slipped it down his collar to join its mates . . .

* * *

That night, Harry lay awake in his room: a closet under the stairs with an old mattress to serve as his bed. He was examining his six new treasures. _Aussa the Earth Charmer, Dharc the Dark Charmer, Eria the Water Charmer, Hiita the Fire Charmer, Lyna the Light Charmer, _and of course, _Wynn the Wind Charmer. _Each featured a pretty girl wearing tan robe, although Dharc looked a little like a boy, and wielding a magic staff alongside their companions. Each one had three stars, 500 ATK, 1500 DEF, and the special effect: _FLIP: Target 1 face-up _BLANK _monster your opponent controls; take control of that target while this card is face-up on the field. _ Each one allowed you to take control of a different attribute of monster. Harry had watched Dudley duel plenty of times, so he had a pretty good grasp of the game; he understood that 500 ATK was actually pretty low. He understood why Dudley thought these monsters were weak, but he didn't care. They were his now: his cards, his monsters, his . . . friends.

That night, Harry fell asleep dreaming of competing in famous Duel tournaments and winning them all with the help of his six loyal Charmers . . .

* * *

**Author's Note: I don't remember when I ran the poll that this fic won, and honestly I'm a little too intimidated to check.**

**You might have noticed that this piece was shorter than the chapters I usually write in _World Tree _or _Son of a Snake. _That is intentional. My goal is to be a little more like the author who wrote the challenge this is based on, crossoverparinglover, and crank out short chapters fast instead of big long ones every few months. This will hopefully keep me from getting bogged down in yet another overlong whirlpool that started out as an extended day-dream. Besides, I'd also like to give this fic a different feel from the others: much more whimisical and light-hearted than its predecessors.**

**P.S.**

**Yes, I know Dudley isn't supposed to begin boxing until _Order of the Pheonix, _but I figure he just couldn't get lessons in school before he was forteen (the age he would have been in school to learn). **

**Also, I was having trouble thinking up a present to give him because we know almost nothing aobut what Dudley likes to do beyond eat, watch T.V., and torment Harry.**


	2. Chapter 2: Everything Changes

**Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait. I was side-tracked by my _Mass Effect/The Flash_ crossover (if that interests you, please check it out).**

* * *

On his eleventh birthday, Harry Potter's life changed forever.

For almost a month beforehand, the house on Private Drive was being flooded with more and more letters addressed to Harry. He hadn't read any of them, of course. He couldn't. As soon as they found them, the Dursleys would destroy them. Ultimately, the house was flooded with them, and Uncle Vernon had forced them all to pack their bags and move into a small shack on a rocky island in the middle of the Northern sea until further notice.

That night, the eve of his eleventh birthday, Harry had drawn himself a birthday cake in the dust of the floor. He placed his Charmers around it. For the first time in his life, he was having a birthday party with his best friends.

_I wish we could have real party together some day, _he thought as he blew "out" the candles of his cake. His life was a dark one, often running the spectrum from "Awful" to "Bland." But, he was still just young enough to still believe in the tiny, ordinary magicks of childhood, like birthday wishes. He'd never had one come true yet, but then, he'd never wished so hard before.

Then, the door was knocked off it's hinges, and Harry learned that he was invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

* * *

Hogwarts was wonderful. Not because of the magic lessons, which were mostly pretty lame. (Really, turning matches into needles?). No, it was just how _magical _the school was. The moving staircases, the ghosts wandering the halls, and the paintings . . .

The _paintings!_

The people in them moved. On their own, they moved; they spoke, and they thought, and they played. They were people, real people, who just happened to live in a two-dimensional space made of paper and paint.

According to his new friend, Ron, it was the same way with the Wizard trading cards you got from chocolate frogs.

Harry spent every spare moment he could in the Library, reading about magical paintings and their creation. Ron complained about this quite often, but Harry ignored him; the young wizard continued his quest to discover how pictures could be brought to life. If it could be done for chocolate frog cards, he knew it could be done for duel cards. Soon, Harry would finally meet his dearest friends.

Most of what he found was too vague or advanced. There were references to things like Runes and Arithmancy and "Advanced Theory of Animation" that Harry hadn't even heard of. Most of it didn't make any sense. Any other person would have given up at this point, or decided to hold off on the project until a later date.

Harry Potter was not any other person. He was determined to find the spell or potion or whatever it was that let pictures move and work it. Ron was a good friend, but he wasn't one of the ones who had gotten Harry through years of loneliness and neglect. That honor belonged to his cards, especially his Charmers. Harry had collected other cards over the years: like much of what he owned, they were mostly Dudley's cast-offs or things other people had no interest in (If you waited long enough, you'd eventually scrape a little change off the school playground, and there were plenty of children who preferred snack money to "weak" cards), but his Charmers were still his favorites, his best friends. And Harry was going to bring them to life. All he needed was the right spell.

Finally, he found it.

* * *

It was a week later that Harry had finished his preparations. It took a lot of materials to perform the spell, but they were all a part of his standard potion-making kit. He'd probably have to talk his friend Hagrid into taking him on another trip to Diagon Alley soon to replenish his supplies, though.

Harry gently placed his six charmers in a circle of runes he'd drawn on the stone floor of the Common Room. Normally, paintings and other images were enchanted when they were made, but Harry was trying something different. The circle was enclosed within a hexagon, and Harry had placed a small bowl at each of the six points. Each bowl held within it a magical elixir representing one of the six elements of magic: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Dark, and Light.

Coincidentally, these were the same six Attributes of Duel Monsters . . .

Harry picked up his wand in one hand and steadied the book on his lap. He then almost took out an eye as he absent-mindedly rubbed it with the hand holding the wand. He was so tired, but he had to do this tonight, or the stars would shift and he wouldn't be able to for another year. He began tracing the patterns he saw in the book in the air with his wand and started to read the spell aloud:

_Elementa Magia, vicino positis quam procul,_

_Veni ad nos hujus noctis insidias venire ad nos cum his stellis._

Harry bit back another yawn. He couldn't let the spell stop.

_Aquarum terrarumque animaeque virtutibus spiritus,_

_Scilicet vitam ad huiusmodi species._

Almost there. Almost. Harry was fighting to stay awake now. It was obvious that this was more than just fatigue. The spell was taking a toll on his body, but he couldn't stop, not until he had his friends.

_Ignis simulachra atque spectra rerum ventus,_

_Dotabit cogitatio in adaptátas._

Harry almost fainted. Taking a deep breath he shouted aloud.

_Tenebrarum lucis umbras manes,_

_Mittat in anima easdem imagines!_

The young wizard fell back; the effort of his spell too much for his body to take. Just before he hit the ground, he dimly saw six shadows circling above his head, reaching out to him.

* * *

"Aw, man. We finally get to talk to him, and what does he do? Faint. Men, am I right?"

* * *

**Author's Notes: Sorry if that was too short. The next one will be longer, and should include our first duel.**

**I am such a tease. Heh, heh . . .**


	3. Chapter 3: Unite to Duel

**Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait, again. I had to do Grad school stuff. Hopefully, six pages and an actual duel will make up for it.**

Regular Speech

_Human Thoughts_

_"Spirit Speech"_

**Duel**** Stats**

* * *

SCENE CHANGE

"I'll summon another Vampire Lady in Attack Mode and switch my first one into Attack Mode as well. Next, I'll use both to attack."

"Drat," Harry said. He took 1750 points of damage, combined with the 250 points he'd taken when his Giant Soldier of Stone had attacked.

"Remember that my Vampires come with a very special effect," his opponent sneered. Every time they deal damage . . ."

"You get to pick a type of card, and I have to discard one of that type from my deck," Harry completed. "Trap cards again?"

"Trap cards again," his opponent replied.

Harry sighed and picked up his deck to remove a pair of cards. This was not going well.

_"Don't give up, Harry."_

Harry jumped just a little, still not used to hearing voices in his head. He looked down and saw Eria. Not the card, but the three-inch tall, transparent spirit of his water charming friend. Visible—and audible—only to him.

Harry knew that would sound crazy to most people, but magic was kind of crazy at times . . .

* * *

Last Night. Or, Earlier That Morning.

Harry woke up on the floor of the Commonroom. His head was pounding, and every muscle felt stiff and sore. _I'm never sleeping on the floor again. _Funny, you'd think he'd be used to it after living with the Dursleys. Heck, the Commonroom floor at least had a thick carpet, which was more than Harry could say about the floor in the little "cottage" on the island Uncle Vernon had hauled them all to in order to keep Harry from reading his acceptance letter.

_"It wasn't the floor. It was your own stubbornness, kid."_

_"There are better ways to put it, but she's right, Harry."_

Harry's eyes shot open. That voice, a girl's voice. It sounded like it came from inside his head. He sat up, the blanket he didn't realize he'd been covered with fell to his lap. Turning around, Harry saw his head had rested on a pillow. Had someone found him on the floor and put them there? But, why was anyone else up and wandering the halls so far past curfew? And, why help him? Why not just wake him and tell him to go back to his room?

_"And people call me depressing."_

_ "Harry, you need to start valuing yourself more. This isn't a healthy mindset." _

_"I'll roast those Dursleys."_

Harry's eyes wandered up, and his heart nearly stopped at what he saw. The Charmers. His Charmers. All six of them. Blue-haired Eria smiled softly, her eyes sparkling like the sea on a sunny day, while Hiita the redhead had her arms crossed and scowled. Beside them was the green-haired Wynn (who was floating in a semi-reclining position and wore a goofy grin) and the brunette, bespectacled Aussa. On their other side was a blond haired girl who was also smiling widely and a short, dark-haired girl who looked disinterested. Lyna and Dharc.

"You're . . . you're . . ."

_"Here? Alive? Real?"_ Dharc asked. _"Don't be surprised, kid._ You _did this."_

"My spell . . . ." Harry said. "It worked?"

"You bet," Lyna said, smiling.

_"It was still horribly irresponsible of you_," Aussa said, adjusting her glasses. _"The energy requirements were almost beyond what you are capable of utilizing. I would advise against attempting it again."_

_"Aussa, you don't need to be so negative," _Lyna said.

_"Harry could have _died, _Lyna!" _Aussa said_. "He could have lost his life if he was not so magically gifted."_

"Died?" Harry asked.

_"This school doesn't teach much useful stuff," _Hiita growled.

Beside her, Eria nodded. _"Spells require magical energy from the caster,"_ she explained. _"If you use all your 'charge,' so to speak, you die."_

"But, why haven't they told us this in class?" Harry asked.

_"Because your teachers are lazy," Dharc said._

_"Dharc!" Lyna admonished. _

_"Most spells don't require that much _Heka, _that magical energy we were just discussing," _Aussa explained._ "So, your teachers probably didn't think it something worth discussing, a decision upon which—although I don't care for their attitudes—I share Hiita and Dharc's views."_

"Um, all right," Harry said.

"Hee, hee," Wynn laughed. _"I think you broke him, Aussa." _The Earth charmer herself blushed and looked downwards.

_"I'm sorry, dear," _Eria said. _"Aussa is the most intellectually-gifted of us, and she sometimes forgets that we aren't as blessed as she. I promise, though, if you give her the chance, you'll come to value her wisdom."_

_"You're still rather young, love," _Lyna said, gently._ "I'm sure you'll understand her better when you're older."_

_"Doubt it," _Dharc muttered.

"Heh, we_ still don't understand her half the time," _Hiita said.

_"I'm sorry, Harry" _Aussa said._ "I try, I honestly do but it's hard to keep strait what I know and what everyone else knows—there's so much in my head, you see—and sometimes I forget. Too often, and—"_

_"Eh, _that's OK," Harry said. "I mean, I don't understand a lot of what my books say, but I manage just fine. I understand you better, I think."

"Oh," Aussa said. Blushing again, she adjusted her glasses. _"Thank you."_

Eria smiled._ "Now that that's out of the way, there's much more we need to discuss, but they can wait until tomorrow morning. For now, you should get to bed and rest some more."_

"But, I'm not slee—_eee—_py," Harry yawned.

_"Then, why are you yawning, Harry?" _Wynn asked._ "Are you cursed? Or poisoned? You know, sleeping curses and potions used to be very popular amongst bad witches."_

"I, ah, don't think so," Harry said.

_"Oh, no,"_ the wind charmer continued. _"I promise they were quite common. That's why they show up in so many legends and fairy tales, just ask Aussa; she knows."_

"I, um, I'm going to bed now." Harry said. "Good night girls."

_"Good night, Harry,"_ the Charmers chorused. All except one.

_"I'm a guy, jerk," Dharc growled._

"What?" Harry asked, stopping in midstep.

_"I'm a male. I've been wanting to tell you for years. Do I really look like a girl?"_

"Well, _ah," _Harry said, thinking fast.

"_Go to bed, dear,"_ Eria said. _"We'll discuss this in the morning, too."_

* * *

Unfortunately, or not, they didn't get the chance to have that discussion. When Harry woke up late that morning (thankfully, it was Saturday) he heard a noise coming from the Commonroom, and went down to investigate.

"Is that . . . a duel?" Harry asked. Below, a small group of students were gathered around a table. An older boy (probably a fourth or fifth year) was playing a game of Duel Monsters with a first year, Dean Thomas. The older student was apparently winning.

"Your move, Firstie," he said. "And you only have three cards left in your deck. Still think you can win?"

"No," the Irish boy said, placing his hand on the remains of his deck. "I give up."

"Haha!" the older boy said. "I told you, no one can beat me! I'll be taking _this _now." Harry's eyes widened as the older boy took Dean's fountain pen set. The Irish boy had showed it off in the dorm a few nights ago. Ron had scoffed at it, not seeing the use in "the bloody thing" (or how the pens worked), but Harry had thought it was beautiful. A trio of blue, green, and red pens cast in a tortoise-shell-like design with silver accents and all polished until they shown. Dean was pleased he had impressed Harry and had admitted the set had been a gift from his father just before he boarded the train.

"So?" the older boy asked, drawing Harry out of his memories. "Who else wants to lose something? Anyone?"

"I will!" Harry said. The assembled group looked up at him. Harry tried not to wince at how . . . expecting they were. He was The Boy-Who-Lived, everything he did was something to be observed, something that was supposed to be great. It just made harry feel so very small, so fake.

_"Don't worry, Harry." _Harry jumped as Lyna appeared before him. _"We're with you."_

"Lyna," he whispered.

_"Stop staring; you're the only one who can see us!"_ Hiita yelled.

"What?" Harry asked, a bit too loud.

"Everyone else," the older student said, standing up. "Has already seen me duel. Only the Boy-Who-Lived is brave enough to take me on. I may not be a dark lord, but I promise you can't win this match."

Harry swallowed. "Well . . . I _will _win! And, when I do, you have to return Dean's pen set!"

"All right," the upperclassman shrugged. "I suppose I should introduce myself; I am Atticus Princeton, Fourth Year, and I will not lose."

"We'll see," Harry said. Truth is, he wished he was as confident as Atticus was; he loved his deck, but it lost twice as often as it won. It was, after all pieced together from other folks' cast-offs. But, he couldn't just abandon Dean.

_"I told you, Harry; we're with you," _Lyna reminded him.

_ "And we won't abandon you," _Eria added.

_Huh? _Harry thought, but thankfully, didn't say out loud.

_ "We have the ability to communicate telepathically with you," _Aussa explained.

_ "So, as Lyna said, we'll be with you," _Eria said.

_"I wonder how much a pen set like that costs," _Wynn mused.

_"Just duel,"_ Dharc muttered.

**DUEL START!**

**TURN 1-ATTICUS: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 34 **

**Cards in Hand: 6 **

"I'll start by playing a monster face-down," Atticus said. "And then, I'll play the spell Gravekeeper's Servant. Now, every time you attack, you must send the top card of your deck to your Graveyard. That's it for me."

_That'll be tricky, _Harry thought. "All right, I'll draw."

**TURN 1-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 34 **

**Cards in Hand: 6 **

_"Not a lot you can do this turn," _Dharc groused. The Dark Charmer was in Harry's hand, although his now tiny spirit was perched on Harry's shoulder. Apparently, Harry's new friends could shrink. Go figure. Other cards in the wizard's opening hand included Giant Soldier of Stone (1300/2000), Mystical Elf (800/2000), two Spells (The Shallow Grave and Raregold Armor), and Eria.

_"No Trap Cards," _Eria noted form his other shoulder. _ "You could try playing your Soldier or Elf in Defense mode; not many Monsters can destroy them."_

_"Unless he tributes his monster for something stronger_," Dharc pointed out.

_In that case, I'll just attack, _Harry decided. "I'll summon my Giant Soldier of Stone in Attack mode, and then use him to attack your face-down Monster!"

"Don't forget to send the top card of your deck to your Graveyard," Atticus said. "Too bad it won't be the only card you lose this turn. You see, Potter, my face down card was Vampire Lady." He flipped the face down card up to reveal the Zombie-Type Monster. "She has 1550 Attack and Defense Points, and a very nasty special ability. Whenever she inflicts battle damage to my opponent, I get to choose one type of card: Spell, Trap, or Monster, and you have to send one of those cards from your deck to your Graveyard. So, send a Trap card to the Graveyard."

"Uh-oh," Harry said. Because, his monster was weaker, he took 250 points of damage. "I'll end my turn," he said, throwing out a Trap card from the bottom of his deck.

_"Well, we're off to a great start," Dharc said. "Ouch!" _The male Charmer rubbed the side of his head which Eria had just flicked.

_"It's only the start of the match," _she said. _"This doesn't mean anything, yet."_

"So, this is the Boy-Who-Lived's strategy? Good thing I'm not a Dark Lord," Atticus taunted, "Or we'd all be doomed. My turn!"

**TURN 2-ATTICUS: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 33 **

**Cards in Hand: 5**

"I'll summon another Vampire Lady in Attack Mode and switch my first one into Attack Mode as well. Next, I'll use both to attack."

"Drat," Harry said. He took 1750 points of damage, 250 from one Vampire destroying his Soldier and another 1550 from a direct attack. Combined with the 250 points he'd taken when his Giant Soldier of Stone had attacked last turn, he was not doing so well.

"Remember that my Vampires come with a very special effect," his opponent sneered. Every time they deal damage . . ."

"You get to pick a type of card, and I have to discard one of that type from my deck," Harry completed. "Trap cards again?"

"Trap cards again," his opponent replied.

Harry sighed and picked up his deck to remove a pair of cards. This was not going well.

_"Don't give up, Harry."_

_I won't _Harry said,_ but what can I do?_

_"You can start by actually looking at your deck," _Dharc said.

_What? _Harry asked.

_"You can throw out _any _Trap card from your deck," _Dharc explained. _"So you can use that to filter out less-useful cards from the top of your deck."_

_ "You can also peek at the cards you'll draw in the next few turns to modify your strategy," _Eria added.

_All right, _Harry said, looking at his deck. The top card was a Trap, 7 Tools of the Bandit. That allow Harry to cancel the effect of one of Atticus' Traps, at the cost of 1,000 Life Points. Not bad, but the two cards below it looked more useful. _So, I'll toss that out along with _this _one, _he decided, choosing a card from the middle of his deck.

"Your turn, Potter," Atticus said. "I suggest you do better than last time."

"I will," Harry said.

**TURN 2-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 1950**

**Cards in Deck: 29 **

**Cards in Hand: 6**

"First, I'll play The Shallow Grave. This Spell card lets each of us special summon a Monster from our Graveyards in the face-down defense position, but you don't have any cards in your Graveyard, so I'm the only one who gets a Monster."

"So what?" Harry's opponent asked. "The only Monster in your Graveyard is Giant Soldier of Stone, and I've already beaten it once."

Well, let's see you try again," Harry said, placing his Monster on the field. "Now, I'll play another Monster face down. Your move, Atticus." _Now, we've got a duel._

_"Indeed we do," _Eria agreed.

"Fine," Atticus said, drawing a card.

**TURN 3-ATTICUS: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 32 **

**Cards in Hand: 5**

"I'll tribute one of my Vampire Ladies to summon Vampire Lord in Attack mode." Atticus did so, summoning a Zombie with 2000 Attack Points and 1500 Defense Points. "And guess what? My new Vampire shares my old one's powers. Plus, if you were thinking of using a card effect to destroy him, forget it! He'll just reappear my next Standby Phase. Now, I'll equip him with my Fairy Meteor Crush!"

_"Uh-oh," _Eria said.

_" This will make things tough," _Dharc noted.

"What does it do?" Harry asked his friends and his opponent.

"It allows my Vampire Lord to deal damage to your life points even if the Monster is in Defense Mode. I know I can't destroy your Soldier, so I'll just have my Vampire Lord attack your other Monster."

"Good move," Harry admitted. "But not good enough. My Mystical Elf has 2,000 Defense Points, so I don't lose it, Life Points or any more cards."

"Lucky move," his opponent said. "I'll end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Harry said, drawing.

**TURN 3-ATTICUS: **

**Life Points: 1950**

**Cards in Deck: 28 **

**Cards in Hand: 5**

"And I just drew one of the strongest Monsters in my deck, Hyozanryu!"

"What?" Atticus asked.

_"Do it, Harry!"_ Eria cheered.

_"Take out his Vampire Lord,"_ Dharc said, _"If he powers it up_, _Hyozanryu's history."_

"Now, I'll tribute both my Monsters to summon Hyozanryu," Harry said, slapping the Monster down on the table (2100/2800). "Now, I'll use it to destroy your Vampire Lord, sacrificing a card from my deck so I can attack. That's all for me."

"I'm not impressed," Atticus growled. "You paid two tributes for that dragon, and all it did was deal 100 points of damage. I've had worse, and, now you'll have worse!"

**TURN 4-ATTICUS: **

**Life Points: 3900**

**Cards in Deck: 31 **

**Cards in Hand: 4**

"I'll switch my Vampire Lady into Defense mode and set another Monster face down. Then, because I've had so much fun with one Gravekeeper's Servant, I'll play a second!"

"You can do that?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I can, and now it'll cost you twice as much to attack me! I end my turn."

**TURN 4-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 1950**

**Cards in Deck: 26 **

**Cards in Hand: 5**

_This will be tricky, _Harry thought.

_"Not really," _Dharc said. _"You just gotta keep hammering him and try to make him run out of Life Points before you run out of cards."_

_Can I do that?" _Harry asked.

_"You have to," _Eria said. _"You're a duelist, Harry; you can't just give up because you're afraid. Believe in yourself, and in your deck. We're wi—"_

_" Yeah, yeah, 'we're with him,' already," Dharc_ interrupted. _"You and Lyna spend_ way _too much time together. Now, do it, Harry. Start hammering. Here's hoping that face down isn't another Vampire Lady."_

_Gladly, _the young wizard thought. "I'll summon my Beta the Magnet Warrior!" 1400/1700. "Now, I'll use Hyozanryu to destroy your Vampire Lady, and Beta to attack your face down!"

"Not bad," Atticus admitted. "But not good either, for you anyway."

"Great. Now, what?" Harry asked.

"Now, the effect of my Cyber Jar activates," Atticus said, revealing his card. "Your monsters are both destroyed. Next, we pick up five cards from our decks and show them to each other and we either set or summon any Monsters we can out of those five."

"I'm starting to see why Dean only had three cards left," Harry said, picking up five more cards.

_"The good news is, it's still your Battle Phase," _Eria explained. _"You can attack whatever Monsters he summons."_

_"Yeah, just watch out for the two cards you have to throw out because of those Spell Cards," _Dharc pointed out.

"I picked three Monsters," Harry said. "So, I'll set Wynna the Wind Charmer and Aussa the Earth Charmer face down and play my Gamma the Magnet Warrior in Attack Mode."

_"Yay! We get to play!" _Wynna cried.

_"Unfortunately, I do not expect our abilities will be of much help, given the Monster our opponent has in his hands." _Aussa said.

"And I'll set my Morphing Jar #2 and summon my third Vampire Lady," Atticus declared.

_What's his new Jar do? _Harry asked his Charmers.

_"It causes both players to shuffle whatever Monsters they have on the field back into their decks," _Aussa explained. _"Then both must continue to draw until they each have acquired as many Monsters as they had prior to the Jar being flipped. They set any they can and then discard the rest along with all the Spell and Trap cards they draw."_

_Ouch. _Harry thought. _That could be bad. _

_"Especially since you'd have to discard two more cards to attack it," _Dharc said.

_"True, but don't forget: the other Monster he drew from Cyber Jar's effect was a second Vampire Lord," _Eria warned._ "If we leave Morphing Jar #2 alone, he will most likely use it to summon up his strongest Monster and continue to attack Harry's life points and deck. It's your choice, dear," _she told Harry._ "What will you do?"_

_Whatever I have to do to win back Dean's treasure, Harry thought._

_"Oh, right, the pen set," _Wynna exclaimed_. "I totally forgot about that."_

_"Perhaps, you should proceed with your attack, Harry," _Aussa said.

"I attack your Morphing Jar #2 with my Gamma the Magnet Warrior," Harry declared.

"Very well," Atticus said. "You know what happens next."

"Shuffle and draw," Harry said.

_"Aww, I guess we won't be playing today after all," _Wynna said.

_I'm sorry, _Harry thought. _Maybe next time._

_"It's all right. Kick his butt, Harry," _the Wind Charmer said as she was reshuffled.

_"Fight well," _Aussa wished.

_All right, let's see, _Harry thought, drawing until he had the necessary three Monsters. _O.K._

_"It could have been worse," _Eria pointed out. _"You only had to draw four cards."_

_"But only two of the Monsters are keepers," _Dharc said._ "Magician of Black Chaos and Valkyrion the Magna Warrior can't stay. Harry can only summon one Monster."_

_At least its Defense Points are pretty high._

_"Not high enough to withstand Vampire Lord," _the Dark Charmer said.

_"Maybe, but that's only a problem as long as he controls that card," _Eria said, mischievously.

_Of course! _Harry thought. "I'll set my Alpha the Magnet Warrior."

"And I'll set my Needle Worm,"Atticus replied. He had also drawn four cards. "And, I guess you'll be ending your turn now."

"Wrong," Harry said. "I'll set this Monster, too, and then I'll play my Silent Doom. Thanks for letting me draw it with your Cyber Jar. It lets me bring my Mystical Elf back to the field in Defense Mode. The trade-off is, it can't attack anymore, but that's all right. I'll equip my Elf with my Raregold armor, which means you can't attack any Monster on my field other than Mystical Elf. _Now, _I'll end my turn."

"All right," Atticus growled. "My turn."

**TURN 5-ATTICUS: **

**Life Points: 3900**

**Cards in Deck: 21 **

**Cards in Hand: 6**

"First, I'll flip my Needle Worm face up, activating its effect; you have to discard the top five cards of your deck."

"Darn it," Harry muttered.

"Next, I'll sacrifice my Needle Worm to summon my Vampire Lord. Then, I'll play set a card face down. That will end my turn."

"Awesome," Harry said. "Now, it's time for me to start my comeback."

"What comeback?" Atticus asked. "Your deck only has five cards left; you can't win. Just give up already!"

"Never, I'll win this turn! You'll see!" Harry said, drawing.

**TURN 5-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 1950**

**Cards in Deck: 5 **

**Cards in Hand: 5**

"I flip my face down Dharc the Dark Charmer into Attack Mode! Now, his special effect allows me to take control of one Dark Monster on your field, and guess who I chose!

"No! My Vampire Lord!" Atticus cringed.

"And, it's the only Monster you have on the field." Harry said. "So, I'll be able to attack you directly with your own Monster!"

"Never! I activate my face down Interdimensional Matter Transporter card." Atticus revealed the Trap card he'd placed on the field. "It lets me remove my Vampire from play until the End Phase of this turn! Nice try!"

"I can still attack you with my Charmer and my Alpha," Harry said, flipping his Magnet Warrior into Attack Mode (1700/1600).

"So what? You'll lose four of the cards in what's left of your deck, thanks to my Gravekeepers," Atticus grinned. "You've lost, Potter, surrender now!"

_I could destroy one of those Gravekeepers with this, _Harry thought, examining a card in his hand, _but I don't have anything that can destroy his Vampire Lord._

_"That may be true, but a card's points can change," _Eria said. "_Remember, Harry dear, there's a card in your deck that can make your Monsters the strongest on the field."_

_A card? Oh! _Harry thought, recalling the card in question. _And I haven't discarded it yet. It's one of the last cards in my deck. I _can _win this! _Harry smiled widely, then frowned. _But, if I discard it this turn, or I don't draw it on my next turn—_

_"Believe in your deck, Harry," _Eria said, sternly. _That is the key to being a great duelist. You put your heart into this deck; believe in it, and it will give you what you need!"_

_All right, _Harry said. _Let's go. _

_"Finally," Dharc whined. "I've wanted to hit this jerk all match!"_

_Well, let me help you with that. _Harry drew a Spell card from his hand."I play the De-spell. Now, I can destroy one of your Gravekeeper's Servants!"

"What?" Atticus asked.

"Now, I'll attack you directly with both of my Monsters! That's my turn!"

"It doesn't matter," Atticus said, drawing his card with tense fingers. "My Vampire is back on the field now!"

**TURN 6-ATTICUS: **

**Life Points: 1700**

**Cards in Deck: 20 **

**Cards in Hand: 5**

"Now, I'll play the Spell, Fissure, destroying your Charmer!"

_"Aw, nuts," Dharc muttered. "At least I got one hit on him."_

"Next, I'll play my Black Pendant Spell Card, raising my Vampire's Attack Points by 500 and letting it destroy your Mystic Elf. Also, if you somehow manage to destroy my pendant or the Monster it's attached to, you take 500 points of damage. Your turn, not that it matters. You've only got two cards left in your deck; there's no way you can win this!"

"I will!" Harry said. "I believe it." He drew his card.

**TURN 6-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 1950**

**Cards in Deck: 2**

**Cards in Hand: 6**

"This is it, the card I needed."

"What?" Atticus screamed. "What is it? What did you draw?"

"The card that changes everything," Harry said, "but first, I play my Premature Burial Spell card. I'll lose 800 Life Points, but I'll get to bring back my Hyozanryu in Attack Mode."

"That won't work again," Atticus said. "My Vampire is stronger now!"

"Not for long, he's not!" Harry declared. "I play the Spell card Shield and Sword! This causes every face up Monster's Attack and Defense Points to switch!"

"But, that means—"

"That means your Vampire's Attack Points become 1500; Black Pendant will make them 2000, but my Hyozanryu's Attack points have become 2800! So, first I'll destroy your Vampire Lord, then I'll attack you directly with my Alpha the Magnet Warrior! Checkmate!"

**DUEL-END!**

**FINAL SCORE-ATTICUS:**

**Life Points: 0**

**Cards in Deck: 20**

**FINAL SCORE-HARRY:**

**Life Points: 650**

**Cards in Deck: 0**

**HARRY WINS!**

_We won! _Harry thought

_"Well done, Harry!"_ Eria said. _"You fought with great courage and skill. You should be proud."_

_"Aaaaaahhh!" _Wynn cried, appearing with the others. _"I didn't get to play at all!" _The Wind Charmer was the last card left in Harry's deck.

_"You got discarded along with the rest of us, get over it," _Hiita growled.

_"There will be other duels we can participate in," _Lyna said, hugging her 'sisters.'Hitta didn't look amused.

_"Agreed," _Aussa said, adjusting her glasses_. "For now, however, I recommend we claim the prize for which we fought so hard."_

_Right, _Harry thought. Standing up, he addressed his opponent. "I'd like you to give Dean his pen set back now, please. That was our agreement."

Atticus gave no response. He was staring at his cards, his face blank.

"Um, Atticus?" Harry asked. "Are you all right." One of the students who'd been watching gently nudged the Fourth Year's shoulder.

"I'm fine!" Atticus yelled, slapping the spectator's hand away. "Here's the stupid pens." He threw the case down on the table, then drew his wand. For a moment, Harry was concerned the older boy was planning to hex him. Eria and Lyna instantly moved in front of him, obscuring his vision. Behind him, he heard his other Charmers leveling their own staves at his opponent.

Thankfully, there was no violence. Atticus swished his wand and gathered up his deck. "Don't you dare forget this Potter, because I won't! I promise, I _will _get even with you." He then stomped out of the main door and into the castle proper.

As he was walking out, Harry saw that the crowd had grown somewhat since the duel started. There were a lot more people he recognized. Including a certain bushy-haired witch he'd met on the train.

* * *

**Author's Notes: So, how was that? My gosh, keeping track of the number of cards in people's hands and decks is annoying. it was also a challenge ot give all six Charmers enough dialogue. Wynn's the hardest to write; I don't write many goofy characters.**

**If you're into sound effects, as I was writing this, I was watching (or listening) to several episodes of _5d's,_ so I kind of imagine the _5d's_ duel music playing in the background, along with the sound effects you get when Turbo duelists pass turns. Except at the end, when my mental radio started playing the victory music _Zexal_ plays at the end of its duels.**

**About Atticus Princeton, you might have guessed he's supposed to be named after Atticus Rhodes (well, technically Nightshroud) and Chazz Princeton from _GX, _whose "bad guy" attitudes this Atticus has a lot in common with. I expect I'll get some flack for that (at least, naming him Atticus) but I'm not changing it.**

**Also, going forward, while some writers like to make up their own cards, I'm making it a goal to only have characters play with real cards and have said cards have their official effects (example: Card of Sanctity would have its lame real-world effect rather than its much cooler anime effect).**


	4. Chapter 4: A Friendship Forged in Fire

**Author's Note: Responses to Feedback! First, to everyone who said they like this story, thank you. It means a lot. I won't list all your names thus far, but I am grateful to you all.**

**No Vigilance: Harry having the Exodia cards? That would be SO cool, and it would totally fit with the theme of this deck. Unfortunately, I can't think of how Harry would use them without it being a total Dues Ex Machina. I think that's why Yugi lost Exodia after using it in one Duel. The writers of the show realized that giving him a card that just let him win was kind of anti-climatic. Either Yugi would use it all the time and it'd be lame, or he'd never use it and we'd be left wondering why not. I'm not saying it'll NEVER happen. Just, don't hold your breath.**

**Hammer n' Nail: Ah, pairings. Long story short, ALL the Charmers are being paired with Harry (I feel like I should warn someone that this is the first time I'm attempting to write a malexmale fic. or at least a fic with a bisexual harem, so no promises on how it will turn out) and so will a fair few human characters. HarryxHarem is kind of my head cannon, and I really works for the Charmers because of how long they've had this relationship with Harry. How they will react to human girls trying to get his attention, well . . . **

**duskrider: I can't answer that here because that would be a spoiler. What I will say is that, at this time, Harry only has the basic Charmers. Will the "evolved" versions appear later? Maybe, maybe not.**

**Elfin69: Oh, boy. I think you may have asked the one question I don't have an easy answer for. How will Harry's human friends learn about the Charmers? I've got an idea or two, but you'll have to wait a bit. For now, Harry's not talking about them because he knows and they know it's a little crazy.**

**Lanari: Will the Charmers protect Harry from manipulations? Wait and see.**

**fanficbrowser: No, sadly, Dudley is VERY good, or at least, he wins a lot because Vernon and Petunia buy him rare and powerful cards that most people don't have and that make his deck stupidly hard to beat.**

**Scribemaster555: I kind of want to keep the Millenium Items out of this, or at least keep them to a bare minimum. I have another magical mcguffin from the show I want to introduce to this story, waaaaaaaay in the future, though.**

* * *

"_Harry, she's still th__ere," _Dharc said.

"_I see her," _Harry said, looking over his shoulder. Several tables behind him, Hermione Granger was unusually not interested in her book. The two were in the Library, trying to work on homework. Ron was beside Harry, trying to look like he was doing his homework, but in reality was just pestering Harry for the answers. (Actually, he was pestering Aussa, who was the one secretly explaining things to Harry while the others tried to explain Aussa).

"_She's been following us for weeks now!" _Hiita growled.

"_Three days," _Eria corrected._ "She's been following ever since Harry beat that Atticus boy."_

"_Perhaps she just wants to be friends," _Lyna suggested. _"Or, she's curious about the game."_

"_Maybe," _Harry said. He tapped his quill against the parchment, trying to think how best to describe the process of Transfiguring a match into a pin.

"_Maybe she wants to Duel," _Wynn said, hopefully.

"_Does she look like a Duelist?" _Dharc asked.

"_She looks smart, and she's a Gryffindor, which means she's brave, right?" _Wynn asked.

Lyna nodded._ "All excellent qualities. I think she'd make a great Duelist."_

Dharc and Hiita simultaneously snorted.

"_Why do you not simply ask her what she is doing?"_

The Duel Spirits all turned and looked at Aussa. _"Ever the logical one, Dear Aussa,"_ Eria remarked.

"_We should've done so earlier,"_ Lyna remarked.

"_You think she realizes Harry's staring at her," _Wynn asked.

"_And, now she thinks he's a creeper," _Dharc mused.

"Sorry, Ron. I have to go," Harry said, packing up his things and leaving his human friend behind.

"Wha—Harry? Where are you going?" the red-haired wizard asked.

"Just . . . curious!" Harry replied. He cringed.

"_Lame!" _Hiita declared.

_"It _is_ truthful, though," '_Lyna said_, "and it's not as though Harry had time to create a better excuse."_

_"That almost sounds like you're encouraging him to lie," Dharc noted. _

_"What? I would never-"_

"Hello," Harry said.

"Oh, hello." Hermione turned around. Her eyes widened. "Hello . . . Harry."

"Hermione . . . Why have you been following me?" Harry cringed._ That came out wrong. _

_"Unless you wanted to accuse her,"_ Dharc said. _"Ouch_." Eric had once again flicked his head.

"I'm sorry," Harry said. "What I meant to say was . . . I've noticed you watching me for a while, and I just wanted to ask why?"

"Well, I saw you . . . and Princeton the other day," Hermione said, chewing her lip. "And . . . I was wondering . . . do you want to . . . would you . . ."Hermione removed a small object from her pocket. After a moment, Harry recognized it as a deck box. "Would you like to Duel me?" she asked, in a small voice.

"_Are you kidding me?" _Hiita yelled.

"_Weeee!" _Wynn did a backflip.

"_Most intriguing,"_ Aussa said.

"_Perhaps we should listen to Wynn more in the future," _Lyna mused.

"_How 'bout we don't?" _Dharc suggested.

"_Please stop arguing,"_ Eria requested, _"children."_

Harry tied to ignore them. "Sure," he said. They made their way to one of the back tables in the Astrology section (the least-used part of the Library).

* * *

**DUEL START!**

**TURN 1-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 34 **

**Cards in Hand: 6 **

"I play Stray Lambs," Harry said, "and summon two Lamb tokens in Defense Mode. The catch is, I can't summon anything else this turn. So, I'll set two cards faced-down, and end my turn." Harry placed the cards on the table, behind the coins he was using to represent his 0/0 Monsters.

"_What kind of opening move was that?" _Hiita said. She was "leaning" against his right ear with arms crossed. _"You should've summoned something bigger."_

"_Maybe, but I'm planning something else," _Harry replied. _It all depends on what kind of deck she plays._

**TURN 1-HERMIONE: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 34 **

**Cards in Hand: 6 **

_That's obviously a trap, _Hermione thought. _But, I'll have to spring it. _She looked down at her hand. _I only have one Monster I can summon this turn, and it'll be pretty weak. His monsters are weaker, though. _"I Special Summon Vice Dragon in Attack mode."

"But, that's a five-star Monster!" Harry protested.

Hermione smiled. "Yes, but because you have Monsters on your field, and I have none on mine, I can special summon it without tributes. The catch is, if it was special summoned this way, its points are cut in half. So it goes from be 2000/2400, to 1000/1200. Next, since you summoned two Lamb Tokens, I think I'll play four Sheep Tokens, with the Spell card Scapegoat." Hermione then plays Scapegoat to summon 4 Sheep Tokens. _These should protect me from whatever Harry's planning. _ "Then, I'll set one card and use Vice Dragon to destroy one of your Tokens."

**TURN 2-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 33 **

**Cards in Hand: 4 **

"All right," Harry said. "I'll set a Monster face-down, and then I'll play Nightmare Steelcage. This Spell stops both of us from attacking until the end of your next turn. Now, I'll end mine."

"_I hate that card," _Hiita said. _"It makes thing so boring!"_

"Interesting move," Hermione said. "My draw."

**TURN 2-HERMIONE: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 33 **

**Cards in Hand: 4 **

_I can't play any other Monsters, _Hermione thought. She'd been counting on Vice Dragon being destroyed by Harry's Monster. _Well, if he won't get rid of it, I'll just make it stronger, _she thought. "I play Dragon Treasure, giving my Vice Dragon another 300 Attack points. Then, I will end my turn."

**TURN 3-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 32 **

**Cards in Hand: 3**

"Wow, so are you playing a Dragon Deck?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Hermione replied. "I've always thought Dragons were facinating Creatures. I used to wonder what they'd be like if they were real, and now I know they are real-does that make still wanting to play Dragon cards odd?"

"No odder than playing Spellcasters when you're a real wizard," Harry replied. I'll pass this turn."

"_What?" _Hitta yelled. _"You could've at least played—"_

"_Nah, I want to save it for my next turn," _they young wizard said. _"When I can do some damage to her." _

"_At least I'll get to_ do_ something this game," _the Duel Spirit muttered.

"_Sorry."_

"_Hmph."_

**TURN 3-HERMIONE: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 32 **

**Cards in Hand: 4**

"I'll pass too," Hermione said. Still, she eyed a card in her hand. _This will come in handy later._

**TURN 4-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 31 **

**Cards in Hand: 4 **

"I'll flip my face-down Monster face-up," Harry said. "It was Hitta, the Fire Charmer. Thanks to her, your Fire-Attribute Dragon is mine."

"Uh, oh," Hermione muttered. _I could play Burst Breath, _she thought, referring to her face-down card. It would destroy Vice Dragon and every other monster with less Defense points than her Dragon's Attack Points, but the only Monsters which qualified were the Tokens; Harry's 500/1500 Charmer would survive, and she would lose her whole defense. Harry hadn't Normal Summoned this turn, either.

"Thanks for making it stronger," Harry said. "Now, I'll equip it with my Raregold Armor, so it's the only Monster you can attack on my side of the Field."

_No! _Hermione realized. _I won't be able to take it back now! _She'd been considering destroying Harry's Charmer to bring her Dragon back, but that was now out of the question.

"Finally, I'll have Hitta and Vice Dragon destroy two of your tokens."

"_Frickin' finally!" _Hitta muttered.

"That was a good move, Harry," Hermione admitted, taking two of the four Knuts off her side of the table.

**TURN4-HERMIONE: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 31 **

**Cards in Hand: 4**

"I play Graceful Charity, which lets me draw three more cards as long as I discard two cards from my hand. Next, I'll summon my Blackland Fire Dragon." (1500/1200). "I'll use it to destroy Vice Dragon."

"Not bad," Harry admitted. "But, you had to destroy your own Monster."

"It wasn't like you gave me a choice," Hermione said. "Finally, I'll play Dragon's Gunfire. I can only play this card when I have a Dragon on the field. I can either destroy a Monster with 800 Defense Points of fewer, or I can deal 800 points of Damage to you."

"Hiita has 1500 Defense points," Harry noted. "So, I think I know which effect you'll choose."

Hermione smiled. "Your turn, Harry."

**TURN 5-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 3000**

**Cards in Deck: 30 **

**Cards in Hand: 4**

"I'll draw," Harry said.

"_I hate Defense Mode," _Hiita said.

"_Well, sorry," _Harry replied, _"but we don't have many other options." _Out loud, he said, "I'll switch Hiita to Defense Mode and set one Monster Face-down. Then, I'll set one card Face-Down as well. That's all for me."

"All right," Hermione replied.

**TURN 5-HERMIONE: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 27 **

**Cards in Hand: 4**

"First, I will Summon my Debris Dragon in Attack Mode!" (1000/2000)

"_Great, a Tuner," _Hiita muttered.

"_What's a Tuner?" _Harry asked,_ "And, why did she summon such a weak card in Attack Mode?"_

"_Tuner Monsters combine with other Monsters to Summon Synchro Monsters. It's like Fusion, but she doesn't need a Fusion card, just Monsters on her field."_

"Next, I will play the effect of my Dragon, allowing me to Special Summon one monster form my Graveyard as long as its Attack points don't exceed 500. I will choose my Tuningware." (100/300)

"_Does that thing have a pot for a helmet?" _Harry asked, looking at the illustration of the card.

"Next, I will play this spell card, Star Changer; it lets me either increase or decrease the level of one Monster by one. I'll make my Debris Dragon a level 5. Now, my level 5 Debris Dragon tunes with my two level 1 tokens and my Level 1 Tuningware—except Tuningware's effect allows it to be treated as a level2 Monster if I use it in a Synchro Summoning."

"_Why's that important?" _Harry asked.

"_The only way to Summon a Synchro Monster is the levels of all the Monsters you sacrifice to Summon it add up to the level of the Monster you're Summoning," _Hiita explained.

"You're Summoning a level _9 _Monster?" Harry asked.

"That's right," Hermione said. "This is my favorite card, my Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon." (2500/3000). "Now, Dragon-type Monsters I control can't be Targeted or Destroyed outside of a Battle until the end of my next turn. Oh, and because I used Tuningware to Syncho Summon, I get to draw another card. Now, I'll destroy your Fire Charmer with Azure-Eyes and use Blackland Fire Dragon to attack your Face-Down."

"No," Harry said, flipping his face-down card up. "My Wabokou will stop all your attacks from doing damage this turn."

"Then, I'll end my turn," Hermione said. "Without attacking your Face-down Monster."

"_Why'd she say that?" _Harry asked.

"_Guess she was scared it'd have a nasty effect," _Hiita said._ "Now clobber her."_

"_I'll try," _Harry said._ "It'll be hard with a Monster like that on the Field."_

"_Do whatever you have to,"_ Hiita said. The next part came out reluctantly. _"Nice save, by the way."_

"_Anytime," _Harry replied. "My turn, then."  
**TURN 6-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 3000**

**Cards in Deck: 29 **

**Cards in Hand: 3**

"First, I'll flip my face-down Magician of Faith into face-_up _Attack Mode," Harry said. "This will let me add a Spell card from my Graveyard to my hand."

"_Not again," _Hiita groaned.

"I'll add Nightmare Steelcage to my Hand and play it now," Harry said. _"Sorry, Hiita. No choice." _

"_Tch."_

"Next, I'll Set another Monster and end my turn."

**TURN 6-HERMIONE: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 26 **

**Cards in Hand: 3**

"First, I'll activate my Azure-Eyes _other _Effect," Hermione said. "During my Standby Phase, I can select one Dragon-type Normal Monster and Special Summon it to the Field. So, I will select the Meteor Dragon I discarded thanks to Graceful Charity and Special Summon it in Attack Mode." (1800/2000). "That will end my turn."

**TURN 7-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 3000**

**Cards in Deck: 28 **

**Cards in Hand: 3**

"I'll play my own Graceful Charity," Harry said. _Let's see, AWESOME!_

"_Did you draw something that lets me switch to Attack Mode?" _Hiita asked. _"Because my knee's getting sore."_

"_Sorry," _Harry said. _"No."_

"_It's all right, I don't think he was excited to see me," _Lyna said. Harry had indeed drawn her.

The wizard blushed, confusing Hermione. _"Sorry, Lyna, but now I almost have what I need. And, you _are _very nice to have right now."_

"_Especially because Azure-Eyes isn't protecting Hermione's Monsters anymore," _Hiita said. "We steal _that, _and the game is ours."

"_Right," _Harry said. _"Want to help, Lyna?"_

"_I don't like to think of our ability as _stealing," the Light Charmer said. _"But, I would be happy to help."_

"_Thank you." _Harry smiled at the card, further confusing his bushy-haired friend. "I'll set another card face-down and switch Magician of Faith to Defense Mode. That will end my tur—"

"I activate the Trap Card, Burst Breath," Hermione declared. "Now, I sacrifice my Blackland Fire Dragon to destroy all Monsters with 1500 or fewer Defense Points."

"Hiita!" Harry exclaimed.

"_This is lame," _the Fire Charmer groused.

"That's right. You now only have Two Monsters defending you," Hermione announced. She drew her card.

**TURN 7-HERMIONE: **

**Life Points: 4000**

**Cards in Deck: 25 **

**Cards in Hand: 3**

"And, I'll soon have three Monsters. First, I'll use Azure-Eyes' ability to bring back my Blackland Fire Dragon. Next, I'll use Pot of Greed to draw two cards. Now, I think I'd like to get rid of your Cage."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Remember, it's effect only lasts as long as it's on the Field," Hermione explained. "Now, I activate the Spell card A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon."

"That's a mouthful," Harry noted.

"It is," Hermione agreed, "and it doesn't flow very well off the tongue. 'A Wingbeat of _the _Giant Dragon," or "Wingbeat of _a _Giant Dragon," would be better—oh, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"It's all right, Hermione," Harry said. "I'm inclinded to agree with you."

"Oh. Thank you, Harry," the witch said, blushing.

"_I don't like her," _Hiita said, once again, hovering beside Harry.

"_That isn't a very nice thing to say," _Lyna muttered, but her scolding sounded . . . hollow.

"_What? What's wrong with her?" _Harry asked. Unfortunately, for him, Hermione chose to continue her move before either Charmer could answer.

"Now, I return Meteor Dragon to my hand, and all Spell and Trap Cards on the Field are destroyed."

"Uh, oh."

"_This will be bad."_

"_You still like her, Harry?"_

"Uh, oh is right," Hermione said, smiling. "Now, I can attack this turn, but first, I'll play Polymerization, to fuse my Meteor Dragon with the Red-Eyes Black Dragon that was already in my hand to Summon the Meteor Black Dragon."

"_We're screwed," _Hiita said.

"_Hiita! Language!" _Lyna scolded, sounded normal again.

"_I'm guessing that's a bad card," _Harry said.

"_The worst,"_ Hiita replied.

"_It is very strong,"_ Lyna said. _"As strong as Valkyrion."_

"3500 Attack Points?" Harry exclaimed.

"You've heard of it?" Hermione asked. She'd finally fished the card out of her case, but hadn't yet put it down.

"A friend of mine described it to me," Harry said. Technically, he wasn't lying.

"Oh," Hermione said. "Well, yes, it does have 3500 Attack Points. Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon is my favorite Monster, but this one has the most Attack Points. And, I'll use those Attack Points to destroy your Face-down card."

"My face-down card was Sangan," Harry said. "Now, I can add any Monster from my deck to my hand, as long as its Attack Points aren't greater than 1500." _Which is just about everything in my deck, _he thought, ruefully.

"_Are you insulting us?" _Hiita asked, using her powers to heat up his ear _just enough _to be threatening.

"_No, I'm just stating a fact," _Harry said quickly.

"_That doesn't sound much better, Harry," _Lyna said.

"_Face it, we are pretty lame in the Attack Point department," _Dharc muttered. Harry discovered that by fanning his deck out to look for the card he needed, all his Charmers had gained the ability to express their opinions.

"_On average, yes, though several of our fellow Monsters do have Attack points that exceed the 1500 Point limit," _Aussa pointed out.

"_Is anyone else hungry?" _Wynn asked. _"This is exciting and al, but can we get something to eat afterwards?"_

"_There is more to winning than just Attack Points," _Eria said, calming everyone. _"And, yes, Wynn, we can have dinner after this."_

"_Yay!"_

"_You guys eat?" _Harry asked.

"_Yes, we do, although it is different from your food," _Eria said, cutting off Aussa before the Earth Charmer could launch what was certain to be a very detailed explanation of just that. _"For now, I would advise you to take the Monster you need before Miss Granger becomes suspicious of us."_

"_Oh, right," _Harry said.

"_I believe Alpha the Magnet Warrior is a few cards below my own card," _Aussa said. _"Although I should warn you your chances of drawing Valkyrion are not high. Do you wish to continue with this strategy?"_

"_It's my only hope," _Harry said.

"_Don't be like that, Harry has us on his side," _Wynn pointed out.

"_He does indeed," _Eria agreed. _"Remember, Harry, believe in your deck, and we won't fail you."_

"_Right," _Harry said, taking the necessary Monster Card.

"_Just kick butt," _Dharc requested.

"_What he said," _Hiita added.

"_I know we will be victorious," _Aussa said.

"I think she could be a good friend," Wynn mused.

"_What?"_ Hiita exclaimed.

"_Look, guys, can we talk about this later?" Harry asked._

"_Yes, you should get back to the game, Harry," _Lyna said.

"_We _are _going to talk about this later," _Harry insisted.

"_We will, Harry,"_ Eria agreed. _"I promise."_

Out loud, Harry announced. "I will add Alpha the Magnet Warrior from my deck to my hand. Then, I'll reshuffle my deck."

"Then, I will use Azure-Eyes to attack your Face-Down Monster," Hermione replied. She chose not to comment on the fact that harry taken so long deciding on the card he picked. He was probably just worried about her Dragons.

"Sorry, Lyna," Harry said, placing the other Charmer in his Graveyard.

"That would have been bad for me if I hadn't destroyed Nightmare Steelcage one turn early," Hermione noted. The fact that Harry was talking to his card was weird, but again, she decided it was better to let it slide. People didn't like being nit-picked by a bossy know-it-all. "Finally, I'll attack you directly with my Blackland Fire Dragon. Then, I'll end my turn by setting one card."

"My turn then," Harry said. _And I have to believe I can draw Valkyrion, he's the only card that can save me now. _"I draw!"

**TURN 8-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 1500**

**Cards in Deck: 24 **

**Cards in Hand: 4**

_I did it, _Harry thought. _"We did it."_

"_It was your faith that did it, Harry," _Lyna said. _"Your belief in yourself and your bond with your deck that allowed you to draw the card you needed."_

"_I'd like to think we helped some," _Hiita said.

"_You did. All of you did,"_ Harry replied. "Now, Hermione, you've shown me your strongest card, so I'll show you mine!"

"How?" Hermione asked. Harry didn't have anything to tribute, so was this some kind of Special Summon?"

"I discard my Alpha the Magnet Warrior, Beta the Magnet Warrior, and Gamma the Magnet Warrior, to Special Summon my Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!" (3500/3850).

"It's as strong as my Black Dragon," Hermione gasped, looking down at the card.

"And much stronger than your Blackland Fire Dragon, which I will destroy now!" Harry announced.

"_That was great," _Hiita said.

"_Yeah, but now our Dragons are equal," _Harry noted. _"I was lucky Hermione's face-down wasn't a Trap, but if she draws something that changes Attack points, Valkyrion's doomed."_

"_Don't forget, Harry, the same will happen if you draw such a card," _Lyna pointed out.

"_And neither of you have any cards in your hand,"_ Hiita mused. She grinned. _"So, it's a showdown. I like it."_

**TURN 8-HERMIONE: **

**Life Points: 2000**

**Cards in Deck: 22 **

**Cards in Hand: 1**

The young witch looked at the card she drew. _This might help me later, but only if I can draw the right cards. _She looked at the field. _The best course of action would be to attack his Monster with Meteor Black Dragon. They'll both be destroyed, but then I'll be able to Attack him directly with Azure-Eyes and win. Then again, Harry could sacrifice Valkyrion to summon out his three Magnet Warriors, but then I'll get to keep my Dragon, and I'll still win on my next turn._

_But, what if Harry gets mad when I do that? What if he doesn't want to be my friend anymore? Does he now? Or, is it just for the game?_

"Um, Hermione?" Harry asked. "Are you Ok?"

"Ah, I set a card Face-down and switch my Azure-Eyes to Defense Mode. I end my turn!" Hermione said.

"OK," Harry said, drawing his card. _"Something's not right with her."_

"_Probably just nerves," _Hiita said.

"_No, there's more to it," _Lyna said. _"It seemed like she was confused."_

"_Well, she is facing down Harry's best Monster," _the Fire Charmer said. _"That would be enough to scare even me."_

"_Maybe, but I can't help but agree with Lyna," _Harry said. Though, he soon forgot his worries when he saw the card he'd drawn. "Checkmate," he declared.

**TURN 9-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 1500**

**Cards in Deck: 23 **

**Cards in Hand: 1**

"I play Shield and Sword to switch our Dragons' Attack Points with their Defense Points!"

"Meteor Black Dragon's Attack Points become 2000," Hermione acknowledged.

"And Valkyrion the Magna Warrior's become 3850," Harry finished. "I destroy your Dragon and end my turn."

"_It's in the bag now!" _Hiita declared.

"_Maybe, but don't forget, she could still draw something to save herself with," _Lyna cautioned.

"_I'd still like to know what's up with her," _Harry said.

**TURN 9-HERMIONE: **

**Life Points: 150**

**Cards in Deck: 21 **

**Cards in Hand: 1**

"I Special Summon my Red-Eyes Black Dragon to the Field in Attack Mode," Hermione announced. (2400/2000) "Then, I play Card of Demise, which lets me draw until I have five cards in my hand."

"Five cards!" Harry exclaimed. "Doesn't it have some kind of price?"

"Not a price so much as a consequence," Hermione said. "I have to discard my hand in five turns."

"That's a risky move," Harry noted.

"It is," Hermione agreed. Looking at her five cards, she announced. "I will now play the Spell Mystic Wok, which will allow me to gain life points equal to the Attack or Defense Points of the Monster I sacrifice. I'll sacrifice my Azure-Eyes to gain 3000 Life Points!"

"But, that was your favorite card," Harry protested.

"Yes, so it won't be gone for long." Hermione replied. "I activate my Trap Card, Descending Lost Star! This will re-Summon my Dragon in Defense Mode, however, it loses its Defense Points, its Effect, one of its Level Stars, and the ability to change Battle Positions."

"But why do all that?" Harry asked.

"_You saying you wouldn't do the same for us?" _Hiita asked.

"_Of course I would! I have Silent Doom in my deck, remember!"_

"_We know, Harry, and we're grateful," _Lyna said._ "But, I don't think Hermione's done, yet."_

"Next, I Summon the Tuner Monster Dread Dragon!" (1100/400)

"_I know what's next," _Harry thought as his face fell.

"Um I end my turn." Hermione said.

"What?" Harry asked. "Hermione, are you all right?" She didn't _look _all right, fiddling with her cards, the witch's eyes were downcast.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Why did you do that?" Harry asked.

"Do what?" Hermione said.

"Why didn't you finish your move?" Harry asked.

"You looked unhappy when I played Dread Dragon."

"Well, I get the feeling I'm about to lose," Harry joked. "It's all right, I'm used to it."

"You don't mind losing?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I prefer winning, but this has been fun," Harry said. "You're a smart player, and your Dragons are really cool."

"Thank you, Harry," she said.

"So, don't hold back for me," Harry said. "Losing is annoying, but if watching you win can be fun if you do it right."

"_Lady-killer," _Hiita muttered.

"_What?" _Harry asked.

"_Ignore her," _Lyna said. _"You are a good friend, Harry. Don't ever forget that."_

"Right, then," Hermione said. "I'll play my Star Blast Spell Card. Now, I can pay 500 Life Points to lower the level of one Monster by one star until the end of the turn, so I'll pay 1000 Life Points to lower my Azure-Eyes' level by two. Now, it's a level 6."

"_She's going to Synchro Summon a Level 8 Monster," _Lyna declared.

"Wait, you can use a Synchro Monster to Synchro Summon?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Hermione answered. "As long as it meets the Summoning conditions, I can use any Monster with a Level I want. Now, I'll activate my other Trap Card, DNA Surgery! I can now make all Monsters have the same Attribute, and I choose to make them all Dark Attribute. Then, I use my Level 2 Dread Dragon and my Level 6 Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon to Synchro Summon my Level 8 Dark End Dragon." (2600/2100). "You were wrong earlier, Harry."

"Huh, how?"

"Meteor Black Dragon wasn't my strongest Monster. It may have the most Attack points but _this _is my strongest Monster. I use Dark End's Effect; once per turn, by lowering its Attack and Defense Points by 500, I can send one of your Monsters to the Graveyard."

"I'll use Valkyrion's Effect!" Harry said. "I'll sacrifice it to Special Summon Alpha, Beta, and Gamma to the Field in Defense Mode."

"Then, Dark End's Effect loses its target, but its points are still lowered," Hermione said. "But it's still strong enough to take out your Monsters. And to help it do that, I'll play my Silver's Cry."

"That looks like your Azure-Eyes in the picture," Harry noted.

Hermione nodded. "That's because this card has Azure-Eyes' Effect: I can Special Summon any Normal Dragon-Type Monster from my Graveyard. So, welcome back Meteor Dragon in Attack Mode."

"Three Dragons. Three Magnet Warriors," Harry said.

"I'll use my three Dragons to destroy your three Magnet Warriors," Hermione said. "That ends my turn."

**TURN 10-HARRY: **

**Life Points: 1500**

**Cards in Deck: 22 **

**Cards in Hand: 1**

"_Dark Hole," _Harry said, identifying the card he'd just drawn. It held the power to destroy all Monsters on the Field.

"_If she draws a Monster on her next turn, we're toast," _Hiita noted. _"But, if_ we draw a _Monster on_ our _next turn,_ she's _toast. Another showdown."_

"_It is the best draw we could have hoped for,"_ Lyna noted.

"_Yeah, I guess it is . . ." _Harry thought._ Wait a minute . . . _"I end my turn."

"_What?"_

"_Harry?"_

**TURN 10-HERMIONE: **

**Life Points: 150**

**Cards in Deck: 15 **

**Cards in Hand: 2**

"Then, I'll attack you directly and win," Hermione announced.

**DUEL-END!**

**FINAL SCORE-HARRY:**

**Life Points: 0**

**Cards in Deck: 22**

**FINAL SCORE-HERMIONE:**

**Life Points: 150**

**Cards in Deck: 15**

**HERMIONE WINS!**

"_What was THAT?"_ Hiita screamed. _ "You had her!" _Harry couldn't hear most of what his diminutive friend said next, because it all blended together into one loud, hot (she had a surprising amount of ability for a tiny, insubstantial spirit) stream. It did, however, cause him to drop the card he was holding.

"Dark Hole," Hermione noted picking up the card. "Why didn't you play this, Harry?"

"Now, we're even," Harry said. "You could have won if you'd attacked Valkyrion a few turns ago with Meteor Black Dragon. Why didn't you?"

"I . . . used to win a lot. The kids back home got tired of it and stopped asking to play against me."

"Then they were all sore losers,' Harry said. "Hermione . . . You're probably the best duelist I've ever met, and you shouldn't be ashamed of that."

"So, you want to play again?" Hermione asked. She tried to ignore the blushing. Hopefully, Harry wouldn't notice.

"Actually, I think it's time for dinner," Harry said. Wynn had by now emerged and was gently whispering things like "bangers and mash" and "fish and chips" into his ear. (This prompted an argument with Dharc over whether or not such foods were actually available in the Great Hall). "But, I would like to play you again later. Only, next time, neither of us will hold back."

Hermione nodded. "A proper duel, then."

Harry grinned. "Yes, a proper duel."

"_You were right, Hiita," _Dharc said. _"He is a lady-killer."_

* * *

**Author's Notes: Oh my gosh, this chapter is about 16 pages on my computer. Know how much of that is Duel? About 13 1/2!**

**I'm sorry if the ending annoyed some of you, but it seemed like the proper resolution to me, since it strengthened the relationship between the characters and opened the possibility of a rematch sometime in the future where they both go all out.**

**How did you like Hermione? I know she acted a little like Stalker-Ginny which worried me (one reason I hate Harry/Ginny in canon is that Rowling seems to be rewarding this behavior), but personally, I can forgive it here since it was based on Hermione's own insecurities and experiences coupled with her admiration for Harry's Dueling skills as opposed to Ginny's behavior, which was played as just an extreme version of Boy-Who-Lived fan-worship.**

**To anyone who cares, I thought Synchro and Fusion Monsters would appeal to Hermione's precise and meticulous nature. Actually, I originally wanted to use Union Monsters and Yusei's Synchrons, but I went with this set-up because it let me use cool cards like Azure-Eyes and Dark End. Maybe Ritual Monsters would have the same appeal (requiring a certain degree of math to count up the proper number of stars, gathering the necessary cards), but I've kind of already mapped out Hermione's deck, and at the moment, those wound't fit in very well.**


	5. Chapter 5: Halloween Surprises

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, I'm back! Thanks for showing so much support for the story so far. Especially to those of you who like the duels. Knowing that makes them a little easier to write. Special thanks also to duskrider for easing my fears about Hermione. I was really worried about that for a while.**

* * *

"How did a Troll get into the Castle?" Harry asked.

"Beats me," Ron said. "Trolls are really stupid."

_"It might have been let in," _Aussa said.

_"What?" _Harry asked.

_"That is one of the most likely scenarios," _the Earth Charmer explained. She was the only spirit with him at the moment. The others had all flown off to parts unknown earlier. _"However, I cannot imagine why anyone would choose to do something so reckless." _

"The Castle is Warded," Hermione said. "Protected by magical enchantments. There's no way this should have been able to happen."

"Well, it did," Harry said.

_"Harry!" _

_"Wynn?" _the Wizard asked. The Wind Charmer flew up to him so fast she almost crashed into him. Harry instinctively stepped back, a move that probably confused Hermione and Ron.

_"It's headed to the Girls' Room!"_

_"What?"_

_"The Troll! It's headed to the Girls' Room! Oh! And, there's a girl _in the Girls' Room!"

"Oh, no!" Harry yelled. Breaking away from the others, he sprinted down the halls towards the ladies' room, ignoring the cries of his friends behind him.

Thud!thud!thud!thud! His feet seemed unnaturally loud against the stone in the empty hall. Harry had never noticed just how much noise filled the Castle until now. There was no army of students, no angry Filch, and the portraits had gone silent as well, the people in them having all disappeared. Even the Ghosts were missing. The quiet didn't last, though. Soon enough, the sound of Harry's steps was overcome by a much louder sound.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Harry stopped as he saw a shadow disappearing around a corner. His first thought was Hagrid, but he knew this wasn't the enormous Groundskeeper. Hagrid was big: both tall and wide, but not imposing. Wynn had said he looked like Father Christmas' younger brother, and Harry thought that was a pretty accurate statement, with Hagrid's size, thick beard, and general jolliness. This shadow belonged to something that wasn't nearly so friendly-looking, and it was bigger than Hagrid. Much bigger.

_"Harry!" _ Eria appeared next to him, along with Hiita. _"What are you doing here?"_

_"Wynn told me the Troll was headed for the Girls' Room!" _Harry explained.

_"And you decided to run _towards _it, why?" _Hiita asked.

BANG! "Aaaaaaiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeegggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!"

_"There's a girl in the Girls' Room!" _Harry, and Wynn shouted simultaneously.

_"Harry, I must recommend against this course of action!" _Aussa insisted.

_"Why didn't you tell someone?" _Hiita yelled. _"You can't beat a Troll on your own!"_

Harry ignored them as he raced through the broken rest room door. He almost tripped as he skidded to a stop. The troll was huge! At least ten feet tall, carrying a club that might have been an uprooted tree, the monster barely fit into the room. It was currently swinging its club wildly, smashing stalls and sinks and things as it tried to hit the only other creature in the room, a blond girl. She was dodging and diving avoiding its strikes, but not by much, and she was obviously getting tired.

"Hey!" Harry yelled. When he got no response from the Troll, the young Wizard picked up a piece of rubble.

_"No! Harry . . ." _Eria begged.

_"Don't!" _Hiita yelled.

_"Aim for the head!" _Wynn suggested. He did.

"Urrrhhh . . ." The Troll said as it turned toward him.

_"Now what?" _ the Fire Charmer asked.

_"I'm not sure," _Harry said. "AH!" he yelled as he dove to the side. The Troll brought its club down on the place he had been, turning the rubble into even more rubble. He scrambled further as the Troll brought its club up for another swing. It was a testament to the creature's stupidity that it didn't think to step on him while he was close to it.

Harry tried to draw his wand.

_"That won't help!" _Eria shouted_. "Trolls are resistant to magical attacks!"_

_"You'd have better luck throwing more rocks!" _Hiita screamed. _"Get out of there!"_

_"Roll right!" _Wynn cried. Harry did so and avoided another strike. The Troll seemed momentarily blinded by the dust kicked up by its own attack. Harry used that to crawl further away.

"What were you thinking?" the green-eyed Wizard looked up and saw the girl a few feet in front of him. She was speaking in a harsh whisper, like a snake's hisses. "Why didn't you call the teachers?" While Harry was trying to come up with a response, she pointed behind him, gasping.

"Urrrhhhh . . ." The Troll had heard them, or maybe it was smarter than Harry had thought and had realized he was no longer where he had been. Harry could see its face now, wide-mouthed, big-nosed, and tiny eyes that glared at them with blind fury. It lifted its club above its head, scrapping the ceiling. Harry crawled forward and pushed the girl back, hoping she was too far away to be crushed along with him as the Troll's arm muscles tensed to bring its weapon down for the deathblow . . .

That never came.

_ "Come on, Harry you didn't think we'd abandon you, did you?" _Wynn asked.

_What? _Harry thought.

_"Well done, Aussa," _Eria said.

_"Thank . . . you . . ." _the Earth Charmer replied. Harry looked up and saw the female spirit was pointing her staff at the monster's head. The brown crystals on the end of it were glowing, and Aussa's normally calm face was scrunched up, her eyes focused squarely on the Troll.

_"You're controlling it?" _Harry asked, awed.

_"Affirmatively . . . However, it is . . . very difficult . . ." _Aussa replied.

_"That probably means you shouldn't talk to her right now," Wynn said._

_"It also means you should probably get the girl and MOVE!" _Hiita shouted.

_"Right," _Harry replied. Standing up, he offered the girl his hand. "Come on."

She hesitated for a moment, eyeing the Troll, before letting him help her to her feet. The two preteens slipped around the creature, trying to avoid touching it or slipping on the copious amounts of (thankfully clean) water on the floor.

"Thank you," the girl said. "What . . . how did you stop it?" she asked.

"Well . . ." Harry said, wondering how he was supposed to explain what Aussa had done, especially when he didn't understand himself. _"I thought Trolls were resistant to magical attacks," _he said.

_"Magical attacks to their bodies," _Eria explained. _"Their minds are more vulnerable. Sorry if I was unclear."_

_"Yeah, she was only trying to make sure you _**stayed alive,** _which—if you'd _**stayed away from the GIANT TROLL—**_wouldn't have been an issue," _Hiita added. Eria turned to her, but she cut the Water Charmer off before she could even begin. _"No, don't say anything." _The redhead turned on Harry now. _"Harry, you almost got yourself killed, _**again.** _You can't keep doing this. Do you know what you dying would have _**done** _to us? To . . . your friends," _she said, scowling as she said so.

_"She means Hermione," _Wynn explained, before wilting when her sister glared at her.

_"You'd go back to wherever you came from?" _Harry guessed. This was followed by a spiritual hand heated by Fire Magic colliding with his cheek. Harry's eyes went wide. He couldn't feel the hand itself, but he felt the heat of her magic, and the mild burn it left. She'd hit him? She'd actually hit him? Eria and Wynn seemed shocked as well.

Hitta "stood" there for a moment, panting with rage. The air around them began to heat up. _"You IDIOT! This isn't about us! It's about you! We love you! And you keep trying to KILL YOURSELF! What is wrong with you?" _

_"That's enough, Hiita," _Eria said. The Fire Charmer glared at her for a moment, before backing down in the face of Eria's own frown. Turning to Harry, the blue-haired Charmer raised her hand. Harry closed his eyes, flinching as he awaited the next slap.

Like the Troll's club, it didn't come. Instead, Harry "felt" her cool hand caressing his cheek. Opening his eyes, Harry saw Eria's expression had become much gentler. _"Harry," _she said, _"Hiita went about it the wrong way, but she'd right; you are so very precious to us. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose you, yet you keep putting yourself in these terrible situations without thinking about it."_

_"But . . ." _Harry was reluctant to talk back to her—he'd learned not to from the Durselys. _"But she could have been hurt if I didn't do anything."_

Eria opened her mouth to speak, but Wynn cut her off. _"We know Harry. We know, and it's that kindness you have that made us love you in the first place. You didn't do anything wrong trying to help her." _Wynn ignored the looks Eria and Hiita were giving her as she continued_. "But, thinking about it, it might be worth remembering that you don't have to do everything alone. We're here now. We can help you. Just like Aussa's doing now." _She gestured towards the Earth Charmer who was so absorbed in controlling the Troll she seemed oblivious to their conversation._ "And your friends can help you too. Ron and Hermione. In fact, I think I hear them now . . ."_

At that moment, everyone heard the clamor of multiple pairs of feet running down the hall towards them.

"I'd say the cavalry has arrived," the blond girl idly noted. Most of her attention, however, seemed to be fixed on Harry, eyeing him the way a cat would a new human. "What?" she asked.

Harry was currently staring at her robes. He hadn't noticed them earlier in all the excitement, but he saw them now. And what he saw was . . . surprising to say the least.

"You're a Slytherin?" he asked, just as Hermione, Professor McGonagall and others burst into the remains of the battered restroom.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry it was so short. That's what happens when I write chapters without duels. Seriously, check the footnote from last chapter, writing duels takes up a LOT of space! **

**Who is this new girl? What were Dharc and Lyna doing while all this was happening? How will Harry explain what's happened? Find out on the next episode of Digi-**

**_No!_ No. No. Wrong show. Sorry.**


End file.
